Common Questions About Building Blocks in Learn SaaS

Can I install my own building blocks in Learn with a SaaS deployment?

A building block is a Java web app that is deployed as a plug-in to Blackboard Learn and runs as a privileged part of the Blackboard Learn process. These in-process integrations have the potential to interact with resources such as the database or the file system in a way that could result in abnormal consumption of resources.

To prevent these sorts of problems, we are providing a predefined set of building blocks you can use. Blackboard Learn SaaS Plus and Advantage customers have full building block support, but need to engage with Blackboard Support to have custom building blocks installed on their systems. Customers can't install and remove building blocks on their own.

What about customizations I made to my courses using building blocks?

You can still access courses in the Original Course View and choose to use them for an undetermined period of time. For these Original courses, customizations based on building blocks will work. If a customization has an access point in a course that is not a course module, it will continue to function.

Can I use building blocks to add content in the Ultra Course View?

No. Use REST API and LTI tools to add external content to Content Market in the Ultra Course View. Some tools in the Ultra Course View are controlled by building blocks, but content can't be added in this way.